Separating beauties from beasts

Tag Archives: Zoya Abby

As polite as a curtsy in a 1900s ballroom and as captivating as a graceful ballerina’s fouetté, in comes the Zoya Charming Collection for Spring 2017!

Surprisingly, although I’m a green lover, the purples (Abby, Tina and Millie) stole the show for me.

Abbyis a great transition hue because the whisper-soft lavender is white-based and wintry, yet has enough saturation to keep the Easter bunny hopping.

Tina is a medium purple private dancer on your nails with a youthful spirit that’s simply the best when you need a pick-me-up. (Bonus points for those who saw what I did there.)

Millieis the showgirl in Vegas with an extravagant sequin mini dress accented with oversized feathers! In every lighting condition, this shimmery plum catches the light and takes centre stage without hesitation.

Amirais reminiscent of the scales on a mermaid’s tail that shimmer softly yet with gusto as the sun kisses them with summer dreams.

Laceyis a muted sage that twinkles like it’s full of little stars amidst a nail-polish sky. (Even if you’re not as big of a fan of green as I am, this could be your gateway green. Hehe!)

Jordanis a bubblegum pink that has a princess personality. If it was a person, it would wear a seven-layer tulle ballgown with satin corset to the prom.

Let’s talk about the formula. It’s not always just about the colour. Substance versus beauty. Even though I’m willing to put in more effort for a tricky formula if the colour is a showstopper, the less effort I need to exert, the better.

I’m happy to report that the formula for all of these shades is great! They are easy to work with, and you can build up opacity quickly.

In all of my swatches, I used two coats of colour and no top coat. (For these quick collection swatches, I don’t use a top coat, so you can see the finish of the polish by itself. For future in-depth reviews on individual colours, I always wear a top coat, unless it’s a textured polish that’s designed to be worn solo, of course.)

I applied a thin first coat and then a generous second coat. The cremes are solid at this point. For the shimmers, you could apply a third coat if you want to intensify the colour, but I was very happy with the second coat.

See the rest of this post for a closer look at each swatch, as well as bottle shots and the official press release (to give you details about the colour story).